La Bu La
Editor’s Pick

The same vast menu of Chinese staples, now served in a grander second-floor dining room across the street from its original Bellevue address (and original name: Bamboo Garden). But La Bu La’s excitement lies in its Szechuan dishes, like chili-laced platters of fried Chongqing chicken, or the massive tureen of “swimming fire fish” soup, its carmine chili-peppercorn bouquet ready to deliver all manner of flowery, fiery sensations to your lips and tongue.

Truth is, Seattle has easily twice this number of genuinely extraordinary restaurants. But here, including this year’s new standouts, are the most vivid, gracious, straight-up incredible destinations in town.